Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri has given his blessing to attacks of Egyptian jihadis on the police and army, but said they should avoid harming civilians, according to Reuters.
In an audio interview with al-Qaida media arm as-Sahab posted early Saturday on a militant website, al-Zawahri advised jihadis that any armed confrontation should be popularly supported and that victory cannot be achieved without this support, Reuters reported.
Al-Zawahri said the jihadis should choose their targets very carefully and explain the aims of each operation to the people, according to Reuters.
He also harshly criticized Egypt's ultraconservative Islamist al-Nour Party, accusing it of deceit and deception by supporting the military backed interim government and secular constitution, which he considers void, Reuters reported.
In a video apparently showing a gathering of the group celebrating a mass jailbreak of fighters, the leader of al Qaeda's wing in Yemen has vowed to attack the United States, according to Reuters.
In February, attackers mounted a bomb, grenade and gun assault on the main prison in Sanaa in which 29 inmates, including 19 jailed for terrorism-related crimes, escaped, Reuters reported.
The 15-minute video, dated March 2014 and posted on a website used by Islamists, shows masked men waving al Qaeda's black flag and celebrating the arrival of the freed prisoners, according to Reuters. Its authenticity could not be independently verified.
"The Crusader enemy, dear brothers, still possesses cards which he moves around. We have to remember that we are always fighting the biggest enemy," says a man speaking in the open in a mountainous area, whom the video identifies as its leader Nasser al-Wuhaishi, Reuters reported.
"We have to remove the cross, (and) the bearer of the cross, America," said Wuhaishi, who appeared with his face uncovered, wearing a T-shirt and sporting a dagger common among Yemeni men, according to Reuters.
